January 24, 2015 - Dave Wall Music | Edmonton Guitar Lessons

Incomplete 7th chords

January 24, 2015 No Comment

This idea makes 7^th chords easier to play, and creates new possibilities. Instead of making them four-note chords, make them three-note chords.

How?

Eliminate a note, of course, but which one? We can’t really get rid of the root or the 7^th because they define the sound of the chord. The 3^rd also plays an important role in defining a 7^th chord’s sound.

But the 5^th? We can lose that.

Here’s what you do. Just take any 7^th chord, say a G major 7, and build the chord: G, B, D, F#. Now get rid of the 5th, and you’re left with G, B, and F#.

Now the fun part. Find those notes on the neck of the guitar, and build some chords.

Root in the bass

Keep the root in the bass for now. Put the G of the G major 7 chord on the 3^rd fret of the low E string. Now find a place for the B and the F#.

You have three practical choices for the B:

2^nd fret, A string
4^th fret, G string
open B string

There are two practical choices for the F#:

4^th fret, D string,
2^nd fret, high E string.

If you put the B on the A string, the F# can go in any of its two locations. Try both. Which is easier to play? Which sounds better?

Put the B on the G string and, again, the F# can go in any of its two locations. Again, try both. Always ask which is easiest to play and which sounds better.

And finally, the open B. Again, the F# can go in either location.

The root on other strings

Now go through this process with the root on the A string. As before, identify where you can play the other two notes (put them on higher strings than the A), and figure out how many chords you can make.

Then place the root on the D string, and find the other notes. Finally, put the root on the G string.

Remember that, in all these cases, the root is the lowest sounding note.

And make sure that you’re writing down all the chords that you like. The ones you don’t use now, you’ll use later. You keep ideas fresh by making sure that you have materials you like, and by making sure that those materials aren’t all the same.

Some people never use anything but standard, open string chords…

The 3^rd in the bass

If you feel like making more chords, put the 3^rd in the bass, and then find the root and the 7^th on the other strings. So the B (if you’re using the G major 7^th chord) goes on the 7^th fret of the low E string. Then find the other notes (G and F#) on the other strings. Same process as before.